Overhead door construction for garages and other buildings



Sept, 24, 1935- K. E. JOHANSON OVERHEAD DOOR CONSTRUCTION FOR GARAGES AND OTHER BUILDINGS Filed Feb. 1,' 1952 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 f m e pt, 24, 1935. K. E. JOHANSON 2,015,402

v OVERHEAD DOOR CONSTRUCTION FOR GARAGES AND OTHER BUILDINGS Filed Feb 1, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 \I'\\\\\\\\\\ 4x (///////////A V////// i Patented Sept. 24, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE OVERHEAD DOOR CONSTRUCTION FOR GARAGES AND OTHER BUILDINGS KarlEr-hard Johanson, Bedford Park, Ill.

Application February 1, 1932,. Serial No. 590,199

Claims.

My invention relates to doors for the driveway openings to garages and other door openings of similar character and particularly to an overhead.-

door construction shown in the drawings and further described in the following specification.

Among the objects of my invention are; first,

to provide an overhead door structure particularly adaptable and directly applicable to the doorc'asings or jamb-planks in garages and buildings in which it may be installed to replace other doors thereby eliminating such remodeling, of the building structure, as would be necessary'to accommodate other doors of this type; second, to provide unique, eifective and reliable means whereby the door may be mechanically raised andinwhich the motive'force is applied to the door, highly secure locking mechanism; fifth, to provide a combination hinge and roller bracket especially adapted in accordance with the other features of my invention and sixth, to provide a strong door economically producible in difierent sizes, especially when an unusually wide door opening is desired, and constructed insuch a way that its outside, or weather exposed side,-will be free fromrecesses and glued joints which,

cation when continuously exposed to the elements, become open and furnish objectionable lodging places f .or water causing thedoor to decay and break down.

' Other objects and advantages will be apparent as the description proceeds; v

This is a continuance in part of my application Serial No. 590,199, filed. February 1, 1932.

In the drawings forming a part of this specifi- Fig. 1 isa sectional elevation-of a portion of a garage or other building, taken on the line ll Fig; 2, showing the door in a closed position by solid lines and in an open position by dotted lines.

. The locking mechanism is removed in this view. Fig.2 is an elevation of. the door and its jamb-- planks, taken on line 22 Fig. 1, showing the arrangement of the parts in'a' preferred form.

Fig. 3 is an-enlarged horizontal sectional and plan-view taken .on line-3- -3 Fig. 1.

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 a'ie vjews taken on the lines 4-4, 5- 5-. 'and 6-6 of Fig.

Fig. 7 is a sectional view of a portion of the door taken on line 1-1 Fig. 2. Figs. 8, 9 and 10 are views showing modifications of the operative channel member.

Fig. 11 isa sectional view taken on line I l-II 5 of Fig. 2. Fig. 12 is a sectional view taken on line l2-l2 of Fig. 1, showing the arrangement of the two channel members.- 7 k With reference to the numerals placed upon 10 the drawings: p

The ceiling in a garage or other building is indicated at I. The wall-denoted by 2 having a door-opening 3 isprovided with jamb-planks 4 and a beam 5 across the top of the door opening.

On the inner edges of these jamb-planks, near the top and at both sides of. the door-opening,

brackets '8 are mounted to which are secured channel members 9 as shown in Fig. 2 of the drawings. The other ends of these channel mem- 20 bers or rails may be supported by brackets. l0 fastened to the-ceiling as shown inFig. 1, or, in the event the door-opening should be close to the sidewall of the building, secured to the wall.

It is understood that while I have shown these rails placed horizontally theymay also be inclined toward the door or vice versa but must, of course, be set 'at right angles to the door.

Other channel members or guide-rails l l are provided extending ,from the floor upwardly through a curvature I2 continuing rearwardly and fastened below, to and in line with the rails '9 previously referred to. The rails II may be 1 secured to rails 9 by brackets I3 as shown in Fig. 12 or fastened in any othersuitable manner. The vertical portions of rails are set to lean slightly away from thedoor inwardly; and are fastened to the jamb-planks l by brackets l4. To facilitate mounting of the rails brackets 81 and I should be made with oblong screw-holes to provide adjustment.

The door l5, when of ordinary height, is pref+ erably-divided into three sections. These sections, denoted at I6, [1 and l8,"are connected by hinges I9, 20 and 2|. In'hin'ges l9 and 20 placed shaft 28'the ends of the shaft extending slightlyfis beyond the edges of the door. Adjacent to each end of this shaft is secured a sprocket-wheel 29 in which the teeth 30 are adapted to have operative connection with the ribs 3| between the holes or slots throughout the perforated flange 32 of rail 9. I

Rollers 33 revolving on shafts 34, screwed into each end of the rotatable shaft 23 and kept by pins 35, serve to keep the gears in mesh. The roller 33 revolving in opposite direction to the sprocket-wheel and bearing against flange 36 of rail 9 as can be clearly seen in Fig. 4 of the drawings.

It is understood that instead of a sprocketwheel and a perforated rail as shown in the drawings any other suitable gear system may be employed. In Figs. 9 and 10 two such other systems are shown-Fig. 9 showing a gear-wheel 33 engaging a toothed flange or gear-strip 31 embodied with, or fastened to the rail, and Fig. 10 showing a gear-wheel 39 having operative connection with the corrugated or dentated flange 40 of another channel member. These operative channel members may also be curved as shown at 'properly counterbalanced, will force the top of the upper section into its closed position.

It will be seen that, with either a straight or curved operative channel member, the use of a motor is not necessary for the operation of the door. The use of a motor is, however, preferable and highly desirable for the sake of convenience.

I am aware that several parts in my doorstructure could be placed in a position different to that shown in the drawings. The rails 9 may, for instance, be placed in a vertical position adjacent to the edges of the door and the horizontal shaft secured to the bottom of the door, or the rails 9 may be combined or embodied with the tracks or guide-rails H and made to extend through the curvature from and to points intermediate between the vertical and horizontal positions.

It being evident that the operative horizontal shaft could be mounted to the door at either of its sectional joints although that would not be desirable for practical reasons.

The operative channel members 9 may also be inversed-that is, turned upside down to achieve the result that the door would operate. The rollers 33 would thereby, besides keeping the sprocket-wheels 29 in mesh, also sustain the weight of section II not" supported by the rollers journalled in hinge-brackets 20. The rollers 33 may preferably be provided with anti-friction bearings and secured to the shaft 28 in any suitable maimer.

The number 42 indicates an electric motor in which the armature shaft is provided with a worm-gear 43 in mesh with the gear-wheel 44 swured, by a pin 45 or otherwise, to the shaft 28. as shown in Fig. 6 and other views of the drawings.

The motor 42, the bracket 26 and the chainbolt are shown in separate units for illustrative purposes only, and I realize that these units may preferably be embodied in a common base. The accurate alignment of the armature-shaft with the bearings in bracket 23 would thereby be facilitated and any need for a universal joint obviated. It is also desirable for the reason that all these parts could be applied to the door in one mounting. The motor or worm-gear brack- 28. One end of this spring is secured in a collar 5 41 fastened to the shaft and the other end adjustably made fast in a collar 48 loose on the shaft. From the latter collar extends radially ,an arm 49 adapted to bear upon a slide 50 secured to the door.

The slide 50 is provided to eliminate the pull of the spring due to its inherent tendency to contract when wound around under tension, thereby preventing the shaft from being displaced lengthwise.

The door, as seen in Figs. 1 and '7, is made up of sheeting, or three-ply panels, nailed or screwed to vertical batons; braced and trimmed inside and made with an interfitting joint. The sheeting used should, of course, be of lengths equal to the width of the door-opening.

In Fig. 1 the wire or cable 54 is shown as having been spooled on the drum 55 when the door is in an open position but said cable may also be connected directly and permitted to hang down in a loop when the door is up or be supported by a spring or other device. The current may also be transmitted through a brush sliding on a conductor placed along rail 9.

The chain-bolt 6 is connected with the rotatable plate 53 by a wire or chain 52.

The door may be operated from the lockhandles through a switch-lever actuated by the reciprocating motion of the chain-bolt or, it may be distantly operated from any convenient loca-. tion.

Having now referred to the several parts in detail, the construction and' operation of the door will be readily understood.

It will be evident that in applying current to the motor, say for raising the door, the force produced will be transmitted to the leverages represented by the teeth of sprocket-wheels 29 which, in acting on the ribs 3| in the perforated flanges of rails 9 turn and travel inwardly, thereby operating the door.

By reason of the novel method in which the motive force is imparted tothe door in my-door construction, numerous advantages result as will be clearly apparent.

Both sides of the door will naturally move evenly to an extent that can be but approximately and, at best, only temporarily attained in other door constructions using flexible members, such as cables and metal tapes, which may stretch unevenly and cause the door to bind in the guiderails.

In Fig. 1 it will be seen that the curved portion l2, of my rail, is bent to a much larger radius than that used in other door structures. This is 0 a. decided advantage in the operation of the door, because, the decrement of the weight represented by the door, as it is raised, is thereby made more uniformly gradual than what is possible with a rail bent to a small radius. This is also desirable 5 in order to accurately compensate for the uniformly decreasing tension of the spring.

The counterbalancing spring may be eliminated as the relation between the leverages in the gear will prevent the weight of the door from turning the armature-shaft oi the motor.

On account of the arrangement of the operating means my door will stop in the same position every time it is closed and cannot slam down on v the floor. Therefore, when being installed where 7 tions may be made without departing from I 2,015,402 the floor is uneven due to wear, a weather strip inclined rails and the successively more extending roller brackets the accurate. closure of the door against the stops it is more lastingly assured than'in other door structures of this kind in which, to my knowledge, nothing is embodied in the operating means to force the door to close in any particular position altitudinally. It has been generally understood, of course, that the floor would arrest the doors downward motion, but, if the door should, due to wear or decay at the lower edge-where it is most likely to do sobe permitted to sink lower, the result would be that it would get wedged in the converging condition formed by the door-stops and the inclined rails.

In case of a straight operative channel member the manual operating means may be provided in form of a pole or rod 51 connected to the top of the door and, when not used, disposed diagonallyon section i8. The gear-wheel 44 should in that case be fastened to the shaft so that it can be released. Thehin'ges and brackets for the rollers are bent into shape and can therefore be produced economically.

Although a worm-gear, a torsion spring and an electric motor is shown in the drawings, other gears, springs and motors may be used.

I am aware that several changes or modificathe principle of my invention.

I claim as my'invention:

1. In an overhead doorof the character described, a sectional door, rollers on the sides of the intermediate and bottom portion of the door, a pair of guides located respectively at opposite sides of the door and adapted to engage said rollers for guiding said intermediate and bottom portion of the door to open and closed positions,

' a horizontal shaft journalled on the upper section of the door, rack members extending rearwardly at right angles to said shaft and located adjacent the ends thereof, toothed" wheels mounted on the ends of said shaft and engaging said racks, means for positively driving said shaft so as to cause said toothed wheels to travel along said rack members, and graduated counterbalancing means associated with said shaft for sustaining the unsupported weight of the door as the door moves to open and closed positions.

one of said door sections, a track-engaging member carried by said shaft and geared to the secondnamed track, the second-named track extending to a point above the vertical portion of the firstnamed track, and means for driving said shaft 5 to cause said last mentioned member to travel along said second named track.

3. In a device of the class described, the combination with a frame structure, of a door for said structure comprising a plurality of hinged ;0 sections, a pair of tracks mounted on said frame structure at respectively opposite sides ofthe door and each comprising vertical and horizontal portions and an intermediate curved-portion, trackengaging members carried by certain of said sec- 25 tions and engaging said tracks, a pair of horizontal guide rails mountedabove the horizontal. portions of said tracks and extending. to points Y above thevertical portions of said tracks, a rotatable shaft on the upper of said door sections, a pair of rollers mounted on said shaft and ena ing said rails, and an electric motor geared to said shaft for driving said shaft to cause said rollers to traverse said rails.

4. In a device of the class described, the combination with a frame structure, of a door for said structure comprisinga plurality of hinged sections, 'a pair of tracks mounted on said frame structure at respectively opposite sides of the door and each comprising vertical and horizontal portions and an intermediate curved portion, track-engaging members carried by certain of said sections and engaging said tracks, a pair of horizontal guiderails mounted above the horizontal portions of said tracks and extending to points 86 above the vertical portions of said tracks, a rotatable shaft on the upper of said door sections,

a pair of rollers mounted on said shaft and engaging said rails, and an electric motor mounted on said upper door section and geared to said 40 5. In a device of the class described, the combination with a frame structure, of a door for said structure comprising a plurality of hinged sections, a pair of tracks mounted on said frame structure at respectively opposite sides of the door and each comprising vertical and horizontal portions and an intermediate curved portion, trackengaging members carried by certain of said sec- 50. tions and engaging said tracks, a pair of substantially. horizontal guide rails mounted adjacent the horizontal portions of said tracks and extending to points above the vertical portions of said tracks, said guide mils being straight throughout 65 the entire effective lengths thereof, a rotatable I shaft on the upper of said door sections, a pair of rollers mounted on said shaft and engaging said rails, and means for driving said shaft to cause said rollers to traverse said rails for opening and closing the door.

KARL ERHARD JOHANSON. 

